Background

Following the special European Council meeting on 6 March 2025, which called for the mobilisation of public, private and EU financing, alongside regulatory simplification, the European Commission presented the Defence Readiness Omnibus package in June 2025. The aim was to reduce regulatory complexity and remove administrative barriers affecting the European defence sector. The package seeks to accelerate defence investment, facilitate cross-border cooperation, and reinforce the European defence technological and industrial base (EDTIB) by simplifying rules governing procurement, funding, permitting and industrial collaboration.

European Commission proposals

The Defence Readiness Omnibus package comprises a Commission communication alongside a range of legislative and non-legislative initiatives addressing both defence-specific and wider regulatory frameworks. The package contains three main legislative proposals:

Council position

In its mandate for negotiations, the Council agreed with the overall objective of simplifying the EU's regulatory framework to strengthen Europe's defence industry and readiness. The Council broadly endorsed the Commission's proposals to reduce administrative burdens affecting defence procurement, permitting procedures, reporting requirements and cross-border cooperation, while introducing targeted amendments across the three legislative proposals. The Council supported simplifying the implementation of the European Defence Fund (EDF), strengthening incentives for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) participation, and clarifying access rights for co-financing Member States. It also maintained the proposed reforms to accelerate permit-granting procedures, while allowing greater flexibility for Member States in justified cases, and endorsed measures to simplify defence procurement and intra-EU transfers of defence-related products by reducing administrative burdens and facilitating urgent procurement procedures.

European Parliament position

In its mandate for negotiations, Parliament broadly supported the Commission's objective of simplifying legislation to strengthen Europe's defence readiness, while proposing several amendments across the package.

For the proposal on the acceleration of permit-granting for defence readiness projects, Parliament supported faster permitting procedures, proposing an EU-wide default deadline of 50 working days, limited extensions for complex projects, the principle of tacit approval where authorities fail to act within the applicable deadlines, and the establishment of single national contact points. Regarding the proposal on defence readiness and facilitating defence investments and conditions for the defence industry, Parliament supported simplifying the implementation of the EDF, reducing administrative requirements for SMEs and mid-sized companies, expanding the scope of eligible activities, including testing in Ukraine, and clarifying the application of environmental and chemicals legislation to defence-related activities. For the proposal on the simplification of intra-EU transfers of defence-related products and the simplification of security and defence procurement, Parliament backed measures to facilitate transfers of defence products, simplify procurement procedures, promote joint procurement and reduce administrative burdens, while proposing greater flexibility for negotiated procedures and higher procurement thresholds.

Outcome of interinstitutional negotiations

Negotiators from the Cyprus Presidency of the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the Defence Readiness Omnibus package (proposals 1, 2 and 3) on 10 June 2026. The agreement streamlines the implementation of the EDF by reducing administrative requirements, improving predictability, and increasing incentives for SME participation through higher funding bonuses. It also safeguards co-financing Member States' access rights to EDF results while protecting industry intellectual property. The package confirms limited exemptions under EU environmental and chemicals legislation for defence readiness activities while maintaining a high level of health and environmental protection.

To accelerate defence projects, it establishes a harmonised permitting framework with a maximum processing time of 102 working days, and introduces tacit approval where authorities fail to act, subject to national security and public-health exceptions. The agreement also simplifies intra-EU transfers of defence products; raises procurement thresholds to reduce administrative burdens; permits occasional joint procurement; provides greater flexibility for framework agreements; and introduces two mandatory general transfer licences – for certified suppliers and recipients, and for intra-EU industrial partnerships.

Parliament achieved several concessions during the negotiations: it helped to further simplify the implementation of the EDF, in particular by reducing administrative requirements and strengthening support for SMEs. It also secured further improvements to the provisions on intra-EU transfers of defence-related products and defence procurement, facilitating cross-border cooperation and reducing administrative burdens. In addition, it strengthened the final provisions on permit-granting procedures by preserving key safeguards aimed at ensuring the timely authorisation of defence readiness projects while maintaining appropriate exceptions for national security and public health.

In June 2026, the co-legislators (Parliament and the Council) approved the provisional agreement in committee and Coreper, respectively. The provisional agreement must now be formally adopted by each of the co-legislators.

First-reading report: Acceleration of permit-granting for defence readiness projects – 2025/0172(COD); Committees responsible: SEDE/IMCO; Rapporteurs: Lucia Yar (Renew, Slovakia); Henrik Dahl (EPP, Denmark)

First-reading report: Defence readiness and facilitating defence investments and conditions for defence industry – 2025/0176(COD); Committees responsible: SEDE/ENVI/ITRE; Rapporteurs: Sven Mikser (S&D, Estonia); Pierfrancesco Maran (S&D, Italy); Aura Salla (EPP, Finland)

First-reading report: Simplifying intra-EU transfers and security and defence procurement – 2025/0177(COD); Committees responsible: SEDE/IMCO; Rapporteurs: Pekka Toveri (EPP, Finland); Anna-Maja Henriksson (Renew, Finland).